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The Leader’s Floor Lookout: Week of January 30, 2023

Washington, January 29, 2023
Here’s what to watch for on the House Floor this week:
Restoring Individual Liberty    No American should be forced to choose between getting the COVID vaccine or losing their job. Last Congress, Republicans led the fight against President Biden’s authoritarian vaccine mandate on our health care workers. The Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate exacerbated the shortage of health care workers and threatened the American people’s access to quality and timely care. Congressman Jeff Duncan’s legislation, H.R. 497, the Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, ends the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate on federal health care workers. House Republicans will continue fighting until the Biden Administration’s vaccine requirement is lifted and health care workers have more control over their own lives.
Returning to Pre-Pandemic Life    Last September, President Biden said that the pandemic was over. Then, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre walked back the President’s own words.   
President Biden continues to use COVID-19 to justify circumventing Congress to enact his radical agenda. Congressman Brett Guthrie’s legislation, H.R. 382, the Pandemic is Over Act, will officially end the COVID-19 public health emergency and President Biden’s abuse of certain emergency powers. Make no mistake: it’s time to return to normal and end the COVID-19 public health emergency. 
Showing Up For the American People    It is long overdue for federal employees to return to work in person. Veterans are having difficulties accessing their benefits and families are struggling to receive their tax returns because of the backlogs created by the Biden Administration’s expanded telework policies for federal bureaucrats. The federal government exists to serve the American people, and Congress is responsible for ensuring these federal agencies are correctly functioning. Even liberal D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser agrees that teleworking is a disaster. Before COVID-19, only three percent of federal employees teleworked each day. Now, Washington, D.C., has the highest work-from-home rate of any major city in the country. In her inaugural address, Mayor Bowser urged President Biden to have federal employees return to in-person work.   
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer’s legislation, H.R. 139, the SHOW UP Act of 2023, would end teleworking for federal employees and require them to return to the office. The SHOW UP Act will:
  • Require federal agencies to return to 2019 pre-pandemic telework levels within 30 days.
  • Require federal agencies to complete and submit to Congress studies within six months detailing how pandemic-era telework levels impacted their missions — including adverse effects on customer service, network security, and costs for real property and locality pay.
  • Prevent federal agencies from permanently expanding telework without submitting to Congress telework plans certified by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that detail how remote work policies will: 
    • Substantially improve agency mission-performance;
    • Substantially lower agency costs for real property and locality pay; 
    • Ensure security for agency networks, data and records; 
    • Accelerate the dispersal of federal jobs across the nation and outside of Washington, D.C. 
If the American people are expected to show up to work, federal employees should be held to the same standard.
Ending the COVID-19 National Emergency    All across America, schools have reopened, mask mandates have been lifted, and the vast majority of workers have returned to the office. However, President Biden refuses to terminate the COVID-19 national emergency because he does not want to give up the powers it gives to him and his administration.  The National Emergencies Act (NEA) gives any sitting President extraordinary powers to deal with crises other than war or natural disasters. On March 13, 2020, President Trump declared a national emergency concerning COVID-19.   On February 22, 2022, President Biden decided to extend the COVID-19 national emergency beyond March 1, 2023. A provision in the NEA grants Congress a termination review of national emergencies, stating that after six months, and every six months after the emergency continues, Congress must meet to consider a resolution of termination. H.J. Res. 7, introduced by Congressman Paul Gosar, would end the COVID-19 national emergency declared on March 13, 2020. The National Emergencies Act was never intended to give the President endless and unlimited authority over the American people’s lives. It’s long past time to end this outdated and unnecessary national emergency.
Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism    Socialism is one of the most destructive ideologies in world history. More than 100 million people have been killed as a result of communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships. The House of Representatives should unequivocally repudiate socialism, which is antithetical to American values and the Founding Fathers’ belief in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. H. Con. Res. 9, introduced by Congresswoman Maria Salazar, would describe some of the horrors perpetrated by socialist regimes, denounce socialism in all its forms, and voice opposition to implementing socialist policies in the United States of America.